1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to snare drums and particularly to the external attachments for such drums which produce the snare sound.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The prior art is replete with many different snare drum constructions and many varied types of attachments used to produce the snare drum's characteristic sound. The following is a list of some relevant patents in this regard:
3,981,220 Clark 9/21/76 PA1 3,113,481 Thompson 12/10/63 PA1 850,306 Wanamaker 4/16/07 PA1 1,638,106 Strupe 8/09/27 PA1 1,236,667 Bower 8/14/17 PA1 2,834,244 Willits 5/13/58 PA1 609,068 Zeidler 8/16/98 PA1 2,115,741 Newberry 5/03/38 PA1 1,442,833 Soderberg 1/23/23 PA1 755,610 Bower 3/29/04 PA1 1,832,227 Ludwig 11/17/31 PA1 1,481,988 Danly 1/29/24 PA1 1,709,165 Bower 4/16/29 PA1 2,274,435 Slingerland 2/24/42 PA1 2,433,200 Cordes 12/23/47
The objectives underlying such constructions vary greatly, including the easy adjustment and throw-off of snare wires, mounting and tensioning requirements, commercial of economic feasability, and ready portability and separability of the batter and snare head. However, little effort has been directed to the improvement of the snare sound itself.
One such effort was undertaken by Thompson, U.S. Pat. No. 3,113,481, which sought to alleviate the loss of volume and tone quality due to distortion, "dead spots" and so-called "choking," which often resulted from the early use of snare beds and the stretching of the snares across the snare head thereby flattening and distorting its central portion. By utilizing a snare unit independent of the drum which provided a non-pressure, or kiss-contact with the head, Thompson sought to achieve a snare action that was always without slack, sharply defined, crisp, and free of distortion over the entire head area.
Another such effort was undertaken by Clark, U.S. Pat. No. 3,981,220, which sought to achieve a snare drum of improved tonal quality by providing a cylindrical tone ring and tubular resonating chamber assembly.
However, several problems remain still unresolved by any prior art attachments. One of the major problems within this category is that of sympathetic vibrations, or so-called after-action and "buzzing" which often occur after the note is struck on the batter head. The snare vibration caused by the vibrating snare head is transferred to the bridges or other metal snare supports thereby producing a "buzzing," or sympathetic vibration, which destroys the crispness and clarity of the snare tone. Applicant is aware of no prior art attachment which even attempts to eliminate this "buzzing" action, regardless of its success.
Another problem with prior art attachments, such as those listed above, is that generally only one bridge is adjustable for vertical drop. This means that when the snare and snare head contact is not wanted, only one bridge can be substantially dropped with the other bridge remaining close to the surface of the snare head where it might produce an unwanted snare sound. In addition, the tonal quality produced by a snare drum is directly related to the contact pressure along the entire span of the snare surface. The prior art attachments, however, generally only allow fine vertical adjustment of one snare bridge thereby often resulting in a non-uniform contact pressure across the snare surface.
Another problem with many prior art attachments is that the attachment is mounted to the drum so that the snare surface is allowed to float or move underneath the snare head. As in Clark, U.S. Pat. No. 3,981,220, and Thompson, U.S. Pat. No. 3,113,481, many connect the attachments by stretching supporting cords around the rim of the drum thereby allowing the snare unit to float free on the cords. As stated above, the tonal quality is directly related to the contact pressure along the entire span of the snare surface. This free floating of the snare unit can result in variations of this contact pressure thereby distorting the tone.